CPA - The Guardian

Latin American parliamentarian Carolus Wimmer began his current Australian tour with a very successful public meeting in Sydney on Saturday evening. Interested local people joined representatives of several political, solidarity and community organisations at the headquarters of the Communist Party of Australia to hear from the highly-regarded secretary for international relations of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV).

L-R: Carolus Wimmer Communist Party of Venezuela International Relations Secretary, Hannah Middleton CPA General Secretary, and Vinnie Molina CPA President.

Carolus spoke to a packed venue about the radical changes still sweeping his homeland as a result of the Bolivarian revolution begun in 1999 and the prospects for success of President Hugo Chávez in the presidential election to be held in October. He spoke about the role of the PCV in establishing Socialist Workers Councils in workplaces throughout the country. Their aim is to create democratic, participative and collective management by workers. He pointed out that, while Venezuela is still essentially a capitalist country, great strides had been made in the battle by progressive forces against poverty and marginalisation.

Dr Wimmer predicted President Chávez would win any properly conducted election in Venezuela but he didn’t gloss over the threats to the revolution from enemies inside and outside the country. He praised the Australian community for the solidarity shown to his country’s revolution and placed great importance on exchanges like the tour organised by the Communist Party of Australia and the annual brigades coordinated by the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network.

Carolus will continue his tour in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne (see our What’s On section).

Next article – CP Venezuela visitor receives Aboriginal passport

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